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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26789500">perspectives</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnightmoonz/pseuds/goodnightmoonz'>goodnightmoonz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(this is not what you think it is), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, One Shot, Or Is It?, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Soulmates, Time Skips, added my own backstory for the moms, born with the others bending, exactly what it sounds like, take it or leave it, zuko and azula being soft because I can</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:14:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26789500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnightmoonz/pseuds/goodnightmoonz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two children born in separate worlds each with a unique ability and color-changing eyes seen through the eyes of others.</p><p> </p><p>Soulmate AU in a different view.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>perspectives</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you clicked on this, even with my godawful summary, hello and enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Almost there, Your Highness. Just a couple more pushes! You are doing great, my Lady.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t feel that great,” the new mother manages to grunt out, dark hair obscuring her vision, “is my husband here yet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two servants exchange a nervous glance before a young girl next to them answers, “Not yet your Highness. I’m sure he wouldn’t miss this, no matter how busy he is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A bitter dry laugh escapes her, “You don’t know my husband.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another wave of pain hits her; she closes her fists drawing blood without a hand to grip onto. She grits her teeth through the pain of another contraction, in the back of her mind she thinks how ashamed her mother would be with her for destroying her perfect teeth, insisting for her to just cry out. But there is no need, pain is only temporary.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s crowning. You are almost there, Your Highness.” The midwife calls out from somewhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Just one more push,” another voice says, most likely from one of the many undistinguishable servants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her teeth must be mere stubs by now, her nails dig in harder, she finally lets out a single scream as they pull the baby out from her. She slumps back down her ebony hair in disarray, her panting breaths the only noise in the room. No cries, silence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s odd, isn’t it? Nobody making to hand her child either. She manages to prop herself on her elbows to see a cluster of pinks and reds surrounding a small body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s happening? Is something wrong? Is my baby okay?!?” She says in a ruff voice, that burns on its way out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her questions are ignored as the midwife yells, “Rue, send for the doctor, fast!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A blur of pink rushes past as her elbows grow numb, “Why don’t I hear him?” She demands in a voice worthy of a Fire Lord, the midwife meets her golden pleading eyes and gives the boy next to her orders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He approaches her and tries to lower her down, “Don’t over-exert yourself, Your Highness. You’ll only hurt yourself.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She grabs the calloused hand trying to push her down, her grip crushing, “What is happening to my son?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy hesitates and looks back to the commotion in the adjourning room, the doctor appeared, they both note. He then looks back at her with pitiful eyes, a lot like how her father looked at her the day of her wedding, she hates pity, fear is better. She grabs his hand harder and pulls him down, “Tell me or I will make your life a living hell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy no older than sixteen, hesitates once again before seeing the anger and seriousness evident in her face, “There was just a complication, nothing that serious.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her brows creased, “What kind of complication?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy’s eyes look away from her own, “It’s just that the young Prince wasn’t crying like most babies do and…” he drifts off, she digs her nails in his hand. He can’t repress a wince but knows better than to pull away, “The head midwife also saw something strange.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” she asks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She says she thought the boy’s eyes were blue, at first.” The boy finishes, in a small voice not meeting her eye.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? That is impossible,” she’s a smart girl, top of her class in the Academy, she knows how implausible that is. What would her husband think of her or her boy if he were to hear, he has a flair for the dramatic. She pulls the boy lower looking directly into his eyes, “Bring me the midwife,” he stills, “Now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rushes off to grab the midwife, she has kind eyes and deep wrinkles set in her eyes, she is the same woman who delivered her husband as well as his newborn son. She is someone the royal family can trust, but the new mother isn’t sure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your Highness, you should get some rest, everything is fine with the baby. If you are looking for your husband-” she is interrupted by a large yank to her arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The younger woman’s eyes are ablaze and her golden irises are dark as she says, “I know you are probably tired after a long day and exhaustion took over, that you didn’t see what I was told. But I still need you and everyone else you told to stay quiet. Not a word of this gets out to anyone!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older woman looks down on her in concern, “My Lady I have the duty to the Fire Lord and the Royal Family-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I have a duty to my son,” she stares at her unflinching, “You are not a dumb woman, you know what people would think even as a rumor. If a word of this gets out to anyone both my life and my son would be in danger.” Her eyes soften to that kindness she is known for, “Please. I beg you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older woman knows her answer within a moment’s thought, she can see the desperate look in her eye, and having a Fire Princess as an ally is more than useful. She gives her one nod, “Of course, Your Highness.” She signals for the boy to follow her before turning around, “Your son he’s strong. I know he will be a great Fire Lord one day, I’m sure of it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knows these words to be true, “Thank you. For everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gives her a small bow, “Anything for the Royal family. Oh, and Princess Ursa, would you like to meet your son?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The midwife doesn’t wait for an answer as she grabs the now crying baby who has been cleared by the doctor to deliver to his mother’s arms for the first time. Ursa pushes her long hair back to hold her son, he immediately quiets with her touch although he’s cheeks remained flushed. He opens his eyes slowly and she sees an identical gold of her own with pinch black hair. He smiles when she touches his hand and she knows he’ll be a heartbreaker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello Zuko,” she says a wide smile on her face, “it’s so good to meet you.” He just blinks brass colored eyes at her in response, “Not one for conversations I see, I don’t know if your Uncle Iroh would like that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She lets out a yawn, the exhaustion of birthing a life dawning on her, which startles the boy. His cheeks redden as he lets out a sharp cry, in the distance a water pitcher is broken. Ursa pays no attention to that as she rocks the boy, he calms, and when his eyes open again she is met not with gold but blue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as they are there it’s gone, the boy smiles at her again as he grips a lock of ebony hair in his tiny hands. Golden eyes gleaming, oblivious to the consequences. Ursa grinds her teeth knowing the dangers they face but she knows she’ll do anything for this boy, let the spirits try to stop her.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When Kya was pregnant with her first child and her mother was still alive she would make her pray to the spirits at the modest shrine in their small tribe that her child would not be born a bender. Even when she was nine months pregnant, ready to pop any day, she would force her daughter to her knees to pray to not just the water spirits but all to allow her child to be born without the benders curse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Sokka was born and he could not control the tides her stoic mother told her how proud she was of her, a rare smile broke out on her face as she looked at the small bundle in her daughter’s arms. Kya was puzzled at this but she never did question her mother. The first time they visited the shrine Kya asked why she feared benders and she would be shrugged off and chastised like a child. Told it was a story for another day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That other day came in the form of the day her mother died. It was a month after Sokka’s first birthday, the boy lay playing at her feet as Kya sat down next to her dying mother. She clutched her mother’s icy hand in her own, “Is there nothing they can do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman shakes her grey hair, “No, my child. It’s in the hands of the spirits now.” She coughs blood smearing her hand, she sees her daughter’s wet eyes, “You are too sentimental, girl. It's just death. It comes for us all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya can’t help the tears that fall from her eyes, she was always more emotional than her cold mother, “I’m sorry, I know you hate tears. It’s just,” she lays a hand on her stomach, “I wanted you to get the chance to meet your second grandchild.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That gets a reaction out of the old woman, her own blue eyes widening, “I’m happy for you, Kya.” Kya picks up Sokka off the ground after the child wanders too far, “I always knew you would be a great mother, how you are with Sokka proves that. Better than I ever was,” she can see in Kya’s eyes her protest but interrupts her before she can speak, “Don’t argue with me. Let a dying woman have one thing, girl.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mama,” Sokka says, clearly wanting to play with his toys. Kya lowers him down, drawing her gaze to him while her mother never leaves her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kya, I need you to do one last thing for me,” her mother asks, looking paler by the second.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya whips her head back around, hand clutching her mothers, “Anything, Mom.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You say that now,” she says words laced with bitterness, “I know you weren’t a fan of the prayers but I need you to continue them with this next baby and any after that.” She can see the hesitation in her daughter’s eyes, “It may seem pointless but you can’t risk your children being benders.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Kya asks in a small voice barely audible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess I never did tell you,” Her mother lets out a laugh, “Now is as good as time as any.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She then tells the tale she hoped she would never have to utter. Kya’s mother was just a helpless teenager when the Raids began when the Fire Nation took every last waterbender and left their Tribe in ruins. She still remembers the smell of burnt flesh decades later, the pain in her feet as she rushed to her lover’s house. “She was a waterbender, one of the best,” she remarks with a smile, “Her name was Yuka, the most beautiful girl in the whole tribe and she was my first love. Probably my only love if we are being honest here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sees Kya’s disheartened look and picks up her chin to look her in the eye, “I loved your father, just in a different way. He was a good man and he understood me, what more could I want.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya bites her lip, not satisfied but knows her mother needs to finish her story. She nods for her mother to continue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I caught Yuka right before those bastards docked. She had it in her brain that they could take them, that they were strong enough. She was always too brave for her own good, of course, she was one of the first to face down the Fire Nation savages. I tried to bargain with her that we could hide, run away but she would hear none of it. She smiled at me and kissed me one last time before running to her death.” For the first time in Kya’s life, she thinks that her mother is about to cry, “I felt like the whole ocean was filled with those metal monstrosities, countless firebenders emerged from them. I would like to say Yuka put up a good fight, but she didn’t.” A signal tear falls, “I shouted for a healer but they were all fighting. Even if there was one Yuka stood no chance her whole left side was burned. She died right there in my arms, I told her how much I loved her but I doubt she registered anything in the end.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya squeezes her mother’s hand, “I’m sure she knew how much you loved her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I believe so, too.” She gives her daughter a small smile, “I didn’t see the whole fight but after the smoke cleared a fraction of our benders remained unharmed. In that first raid, they captured five, killed ten. Each one after that even less remained, so that by the end of it there were no southern waterbenders left. I saw friends and family killed or captured never to be seen again, the smell of burnt flesh, and the cries of children never leave your mind. They destroyed us and when they killed Yuka they killed me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes are blank, remembering things long kept hidden. Kya should have never asked, she is about to apologize until her mother says looking at her with familiar eyes, “That is until I had you. I think I’ve never been more afraid, I had little want and little clue how to be a mother. I’ve seen countless loved ones killed in this cruel world, how could I bring in another life into this world just to suffer like us all.” Her mother looks away from her, unable to meet her eyes, ”I hate to admit it but when I first discovered I was pregnant I prayed to the spirits to undo this.” Her eyes find Sokka mulling on the ground, “What a mistake that would have been. I asked them if they couldn’t do that then I wished that my child would be born without the moon’s blessing. I prayed every day, the only one to visit that old site, for that wish. Then the day came you were born and a couple of months later the elders found you weren’t a bender. I have never been happier, I knew that even if I couldn’t be a perfect mother, I could always protect you. And by the spirits bless you, I knew how much safer you were.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya doesn’t know what to say but she is her father’s daughter and knows logic governs all else, “Mom, thank you for telling me but why have you never told me any of this, before?” If Kya grew up with this knowledge it might have helped with her wondering why her mother is so distant and unlike the other mothers. That it wasn’t her fault. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There was never the right time,” her mother says, “you were never the smartest girl, I didn’t think you would understand. You are lucky you are pretty.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya pulls her hand away, in her mother’s story she forgot how malicious and nasty she could be. “I appreciate you telling me and I’m sorry for what you went through, mother. But it is getting close to Sokka’s dinner time and I should take him to Hakoda.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya stands and grabs Sokka putting his stuffed polar bear cub in his little hands, “Say good-bye to Gran-Gran, Sokka.” She picks up his little hand to wave at her, amusement missing from her mother’s face, “I’ll come right back after I drop him off.” She crosses the small igloo about to exit before her mother’s voice stops her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll do it right, Kya? You’ll pray to the spirits that your child won’t be a bender?” She pleads.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kya is already out the door when she says, “I’ll do my best, Mom.” She doesn’t hear her response already making her way back to her husband, sleeping Sokka on her chest. The events of her mother’s story in the back of her mind as she thinks of what to make for dinner.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She returns to her mother’s tent two hours later to see only a cold body left, her familiar look of indifference on her face as she dozes off. She drops her plate of sea prunes and finds shock, not sadness, to be her prime emotion. Kya can’t help but think that her mother is at peace in the spirit world and that maybe Yuka is there with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As for her mother’s final wish for the first trimester, she goes to the shrine and sits in the familiar painful position on her knees and prays that the spirits spare her child from bending. But then her husband is injured in a hunting trip, that man thinks he’s invulnerable, and she spends weeks nursing him back to health. Thoughts of her mother and spirits are the furthest thing in her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then after that, her friend Nini needed a midwife and she was available, then Sokka was ill, and then there were economic talks with a neighboring tribe. More and more responsibilities appeared each day that she never found the time to visit and without her mother’s forceful hand she felt little motivation to make the journey in the freezing cold. Also, a part of her saw her mother’s beliefs as ridiculous, as far as she knows there might not even be spirits in the first place. So Kya saw little benefit in carrying on when more important things needed to be done, which proved to be a mistake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Consequently, Kya has no one but herself to blame when her daughter is born with the ability to bend not one but two elements. The tales about spirits tend to highlight their trickster ways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Kya holds the young Katara to her chest, who’s eyes change from blue to gold on a moment's notice, she thinks she understands her mother’s fear. She will do anything to protect her children and prays there never be another Fire Nation raid.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maaaaiiiiii,” draws the somersaulting blur of pink, “Truth or Dare?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A girl with dark bangs, Mai, spares the other girl one bored expression, “Do we have to play this game, Ty Lee?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The energetic girl pouts, halting her display of acrobatics, “Why? I love this game and so does Azula.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The gloomy girl snorts, “That’s because she always picks dare, it doesn’t make it that much of a game.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the mention of her name does the regal girl in question distinguish the small azure flame she was playing with absentmindedly and approach the other girls, “What is this I hear about a dare?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to play truth or dare but Mai is too afraid,” Ty Lee says sticking a tongue out at the other girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m not!” Mai says pouting and acting her young age of ten, “It’s just the game is boring since Azula always wins, she takes any dare.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing frightens me,” the young fire princess answers, examining her nails in a neutral expression replicating her mother’s bored expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You only win since you only take dares,” Mai says with her familiar grouchy expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Azula is surprised by her anger, usually, the girl keeps her emotions under lock and key. She must still be mad about Zuko and the pond from yesterday, “Fine. I could beat you any way you want,” Azula is never one to shy away from a challenge, she takes a seat next to them and pulls at the grass, grateful her mother isn’t around to see her destroy the foliage.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>”But I think it will be only fair if Ty Lee were to ask.” The firebender says with a challenging smirk. Mai knows this look and decides to let Azula have her way, it will be easier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who me?” Ty Lee flops down on the grass in a blur of pink, “Well I don’t know, hmmm” she puts a small finger on her chin tapping away, “Oh I got one! It’s not too hard, I promise! ” She turns her bright brown eyes to her, “What is your earliest memory?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mai snorts, “What kind of question is that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you guys agreed that I get to pick the question! No judging!” Ty Lee says crossing her small arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I didn’t think you would ask such a stupid question!” Mai says she hoped the girl would ask something uncomfortable so she could get revenge. But Ty Lee is too kind and frankly, oblivious for something like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! You don’t have to be so mean, Mai! It’s a good question, it won’t hurt anyone's feelings and it's interesting,” Ty Lee responded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mai counters and they go on arguing for some time, oblivious to the Princess’s thoughts. Azula tunes them out as she tries to recall, she remembers water and her brother.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>🜂🜄</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When Azula was younger, when her mother and Zuko’s games interested her, her favorite thing to do was to feed the turtleducks after dinner. She loved to watch the smile on her big brother’s face as a bird nibbled at his finger for bread, the way her mother laughed when a turtleduck waddled up to her expectedly. It was perfect, the one thing that would make it better is if her father was there but for some reason he never made it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Zuko liked to teach his three-year-old sister the proper way to feed. He would take his sister's hand in his and drop a few pieces into it, Azula has long spent her own loaf. “You see Azula, you have to be patient and wait for them to come to you.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But the Princess was never good at waiting, so she threw all her pieces at the birds just to watch them sink to the pond’s floor. The turtleducks would blink at her, and turn back to Zuko. Her face reddened and she felt tears falling down her cheeks, why did they hate her?</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s okay Azula,” Zuko pats his sister on the back, “You just have to be calm. Here try again,” he hands her a couple more pieces, his loaf shrinking.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Azula looks to her brother and sees how easy it is for him, how happy the turtleducks are to take from him. But when she holds hers out for them they swim away, she doesn’t understand how Zuko is so better than her. She gets impatient again and throws her crumbs just for the same result as before. Maybe if she tried something different, “Zu-zu more.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She holds out a chubby hand, waiting. Zuko looks down at his own loaf which isn’t enough for two then he looks back for his mother to ask for more. But she is talking to Uncle Iroh in hushed voices not paying them any mind. Zuko looks back to his baby sister and doesn’t hesitate, “Here you go, Azula.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She smiles at him and takes the bread, clutching it to her chest, determined to get these birds to love her the way they do Zuko. She tries to do what Zuko does and sits still for a couple of minutes waiting for them to make the first move but nothing happens. Azula frowns, that might work for Zuko but not her. Maybe they can’t see her, only if she was closer to the turtleducks.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She spots the closest one and sets her sights on it, she jumps into the pond. Which is a mistake since it is a lot deeper than she thought and she hasn’t learned to swim yet. She struggles and feels herself sinking, the air leaving her lungs. She would scream if she had any air left. In those last moments does she think of her mother and her disappointment than of Zuko and his kind eyes. She should have waited.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But then the water of the pond is parted, magically and strong arms are lifting her up.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She coughs water out of her lungs and opens her eyes to see her mother, uncle, and brother looming over her. Her eyes first meet her brothers but those aren’t his eyes, those are blue like the ocean. This is odd since she has never seen blue eyes before and she thought he had gold eyes like her mother and her.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Thank Agni, you’re alive!” Her mother asks tearfully, clutching Azula's small body to her own.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Uncle Iroh lays one hand on Azula's shoulder the other on Zuko’s head, “Don’t thank Agni, thank Zuko.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Azula looks to her brother then to see his eyes return to normal, she sees tears in them as he says, “Azula, you shouldn’t have done that! You could have died!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In her short life, Princess Azula has never felt worse, she places a small hand on his larger ones and hands him her fistful of soggy bread, “Sorry, Zu-zu.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Zuko answers her by joining the hug, his tears soaking their mother's dress. Azula smiles as the people she loves most in the world are all together hugging her. She doesn’t process what happened or the guarded and inscrutable look her mother and uncle share.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>🜂🜄</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fire princess is pulled out of her thoughts by Ty Lee’s hand drifting in front of her face, “Hello? Earth to Azula?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Azula catches Ty Lee’s hand in her own, “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Concern and a tiny amount of fear flash in her friend’s eyes, “We were playing truth or dare remember? I ask what your earliest memory was and Mai was being a dunderhead.” Mai crosses her arms and tries to look nonchalant, “So what’s the answer?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Azula thinks for a second, how does she tell them that? Should she tell them? And what did it mean? It’s much too complicated and Azula decides a lie is better, she is good at them after all, “Just the first time I produced a flame and the proud look on my father’s face.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ty Lee in the middle of a cartwheel somehow nods to this but suspicion laces Mai’s features. She knows Azula is lying for some reason but doesn’t care enough to call her out on it, its dangerous to make yourself the enemy of the young princess.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the day is spent with Ty Lee showing a few more tricks she learned from one of her older sisters and Mai showing off her new knives her father bought her for her birthday. But Azula’s mind is somewhere else, she finds her gaze drawn back to the turtleduck pond. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No one is there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When did she stop accompanying her mother? Why? And what did Uncle Iroh mean about her brother?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She never got to ask him because the next day her mother read that her cousin Lu Ten was killed in battle, she figured she won’t be seeing her Uncle for a long time. She never got the chance to ask her mother either because the day after that she vanished, never to be seen again. With her did the juvenile thoughts of turtleducks and blue eyes. Azula had no time for that now, her father needs her.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Today would be his mother’s birthday, how old would she be? He would ask Dad but he’s gone, left to fight an endless war over a year ago. Everyone grieves in different ways, he supposes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Katara retreats into herself, makes herself busy with aiding Gran-Gran, and helping out wherever she can in their meager tribe. She puts on a brave face through it all, never letting her pain show. But he hears her cries at night, the way she screams out their mother’s name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence that follows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s different, sure he serves the village however he can, works to protect it even though he is far too young. And just like his sister, he cries when he finds he can’t remember the sound of her voice or when he remembers the stark sight of black snow on a white landscape. But he finds what helps him in his grief is memories. Anything from helping her prepare a meal or to singing with her as he helps her clean. Nothing is too minuscule not to be remembered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One he always comes back to, particularly on this day, is the last birthday they all spent together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>🜂🜄</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Birthdays were Sokka’s favorite days, it didn't matter who, since birthdays meant feasts. Feasts meant a lot of food and a lot of cooking. One of his favorite sights was watching his mother hum to herself while she cooked. The way her velvety voice murmured the songs of their culture as she cut sea prunes or boiled water over the fire was soothing, unlike anything else.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The birthday today in particular was his mothers and he had something amazing planned. He and Katara worked all week on it and couldn’t wait to show her. He paid no mind to his favorite five-flavor soup as he was so nervous. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That drew his mother’s concern, “Are you alright, Sokka? You barely touched your soup.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka looks nervously around at the cobalt eyes staring down at him, “I’m alright,” Katara kicks him and levels a glare not wanting him to ruin the surprise. He then digs into his meal, his father slaps him on the back.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“That’s my boy! I want you to eat up. I have a busy day of training planned for all the kids tomorrow,” Hakoda says.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Can I come?” Katara asks with wide blue eyes, “I never get to go with you guys.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka looks up to see his father and mother exchange a look, his dad grabs Katara’s hand in his own, “I would love for you to come sweetie but,” he looks to his wife not sure how to finish.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I need your help here, Katara. Plus you wouldn’t want to spend all day with those smelly boys,” Kya smiles at her daughter and tickles her sides but the girl is unamused. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She frowns and huffs, “Niyok and Nutha talk about how fun it is and you won’t even let me go! I don’t get it, why does Sokka get to do all the fun stuff and I’m stuck here cleaning dishes. It’s not like Sokka is smarter than me or anything!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka doesn’t like her tone, she always thinks she’s better than him even though he is older and wiser. “If you are so smart, Katara then you should know the real reason why Dad never invites you to train.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sokka!” His mother says in warning but Sokka and Katara are both overly agitated.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The young girl leans over the table in her brother’s face as she says, “Tell me o-wise meathead.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka ignores his mother’s hand and his dad’s glare as he says, “Fine then! All the other kids are afraid of your bending! No one knows when you might burn them or freeze them! Okay!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>At those words, his sister’s eyes turn gold and Sokka prepares himself for the smell of burnt hair but it never comes. He opens one eye to see his sister’s mouth open like a koi fish.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh,” is all she says as she sits back down resuming her dinner. Sokka looks at his parents' equally shocked expression, his mother releases her hold on the pale of water.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What do you mean ‘oh’. Don’t you want to burn off my hair or freeze me to my chair?” Sokka asks but his sister ignores him, engrossed in her soup.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sweetie are you okay? It’s okay to be mad.” Kya asks in a gentle tone that only mothers could pull off.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s nothing personal, Kat. It’s just some of the younger kids,” his father struggles to find the right word, “they don’t understand, is all. You are both the first waterbender and firebender they have ever seen. Just give it some time.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara nods, “No. I understand I would be afraid of me too,” Kya and Hakoda share a sorrowful look, wishing they could take all the pain and trouble away from their children. But that’s what all parents wish for their children but can never obtain.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>An uncomfortable silence follows as they finish their dinner, Sokka keeps glancing up to Katara pushing around her food morosely. He feels guilty he shouldn’t have told her, especially today, but if he were her he would have wanted to know. Dinner finishes unceremoniously, Sokka excuses himself to clean off all the dishes for his mother for which she smiles at, an identical one to his own.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara joins him after a couple of minutes, “You have everything ready for Mom’s present?” She asks, taking a dish from it and drying it with her hands, he’ll never get used to that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What? You still want to do that?” He asks, handing her the last of the plates.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Of course, it’s for Mom.” That’s all she needs to say.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka then ushers everyone outside, pulling his mother’s hand from a small group that has amassed including his whole family. Sokka makes his way in front of the crowd and clears his voice to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. I introduce to you Sokka and Katara’s outrageous outstanding...otter-penguins!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He waves his hands and outcomes Katara who waves her arms to liquefy a nearby hill to which the otter-penguins roll down, she then puffs out a small flame signaling to the animals their next trick. They do a little spin mid-air before flopping back down coming to a stop right in front of Sokka who feeds them each a fish and rubs behind their ears.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The crowd erupts in applause and cheers, a couple of the other children demand an encore. He sees his mother’s grinning face and knows it was all worth it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Thank you, thank you all. This was all for our Mom. Happy Birthday, Mom!” Sokka says, grabbing Katara’s hand and taking a bow to the applause.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Uncle Bato pats him on the shoulder in congratulations while Gran-Gran hugs him and whispers what a great show that was. His dad pats him on the back and tells him how proud he is of both them, especially Katara who managed to do those bending moves. To which Sokka doesn’t understand, it was way harder to train the animals then it was to wave your arms in the air for some magic water. But his jealousy is forgotten as his mother enveloped them both in a bone-crushing hug his mother is famous for. She murmurs how that was the best present she has ever gotten and Sokka is already planning on how to top it next year.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>After twenty minutes the crowd dissipates and the stars have overtaken the sky only their small family only remains. They walk back to their home, Hakoda bids them all farewell saying he needs to wake up early for some fishing, warning Sokka to do the same. But Sokka and Katara offer to walk their Gran-Gran back to her home, letting Kya and Hakoda have ‘Oogie Time’ as Sokka so elegantly says. Gran-Gran mutters the whole time on how proud she is of them and what a kind thing that was but also corrects their posture and Sokka’s language. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara giggles at that, traitor. But even that can’t dissipate Sokka’s mood, he even lets Gran-Gran kiss his cheek in farewell without cringing. It is just Katara and Sokka left as they make the walk back home in the low light of the moon, Sokka mutters as he trips on an ice dune. Katara sees this and lights a small fire in her hand to provide some light.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s still weird,” Sokka says, Katara squints at him in confusion. He gestures to the orange flame in her hand, “You bending fire. And how easy it is for you! Sometimes I think you are better at bending fire than water.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara looks away from him, her face away from the light making it hard to see her expressions, “I don’t know, I guess you are right for once big brother. Fire is easier than water, easier to control at least,” she makes the flame larger and smaller to demonstrate, “It should be the other way around, I’m Water Tribe. I should be able to control my waterbending like I do my fire. But…” she trails off, too much worry in her youthful face, “I just need a master, then I can control it.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka frowns, what he would give to give his baby sister a master so a little worry can disappear off her face, “Yeah. I’m sure we’ll find you one, sis.” He bumps her shoulder with his own but then he stulls. An idea, “Have you ever wondered why you can bend two elements? I mean you are not the Avatar, we established that,” he remembers when they forced an even younger Katara to try to bend a rock from his father's travels to no luck plus the world had no idea if the Avatar is even dead. “We know Mom’s theory of ‘the spirits like to play tricks’, Gran-Gran’s idea of your firebending fading one day and I think Dad really has no idea.” They both chuckled at that, “Now that you are older, what do you think?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka looks over to his sister who is deep in thought, her small flame seems to flicker with her breath. He waits about a minute, which is remarkable for an extrovert like him, before saying his own theory, “Even though you didn’t ask, I’ll share my idea. I think this is a gift from the spirits to help us win the war,” Katara frowns at him, “Wait, wait, wait. Hear me out,” she gives him a small nod, “Sure your magic water and fire goes beyond any law of physics so the only explanation must be a gift from the spirits to help us end the war with the Fire Nation’s own medicine. How poetic that would be!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara shakes her head at that and in a soft voice says, “I don’t think so.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka’s eyebrows shoot up, “What?!? Why? It makes perfect sense,” he is a little offended that his theory is so easily rejected without any proof.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katara rushes ahead, “I don’t know it just doesn’t seem right.” Sokka grabs her arm, stalling her, giving her a look their Mother does when she wants them to divulge their thoughts. “It’s just can’t be for some dumb war fought a world away that has nothing to do with us!” She yells, Sokka tries to hush her but she pulls away, their house growing closer in the distance. Sokka almost misses what she says next, “It can’t be what you say, this is not a power to rage more war to ring more destruction. Sometimes I feel so alone with this power but I feel that there is someone out there with the same power as me. I can feel it, we are connected somehow.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sokka frowns as he stands next to her where she has halted next to the entryway. He watches her flame dance in the darkness, when he was younger he was jealous of Katara’s bending, why is she so selfish as to get two elements when he gets none. But as he looks into his eight-year-old sister’s face that seems wise beyond its years does he see the pain there that shouldn’t be for a girl so young. What control does it take to keep that small flame at bay and her two conflicting elements raging a war inside her? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He has never been more grateful to be born without bending. At this moment he thinks bending is more of a curse than anything else.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He pats his sister unable to come up with any words to comfort her, when he bends down and sees her frozen stare he says, “Come on in. I’m still hungry.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That breaks her out of it as she rolls her eyes, “You must have seven stomachs to still be hungry.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“One of my many charms, sister,” Sokka says. Katara tries to roll her eyes in annoyance but he can see a small smile on her face.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span> Mission accomplished he thinks as they walk back into their warm house from the frigid air into their mother’s welcoming arms. Kya then says how they made this birthday one to remember and how proud both of them are, how grown they are. She then warns Sokka not to eat the rest of the food, planning on packaging it up to give to Gran-Gran.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>🜂🜄</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But unfortunately, that never comes to pass because the next day comes black snow and with it death. All talks of celebrations and bending masters disappear with his mother. He remembers their malicious fire, how different it was from his sister’s comforting flame, and the smell that accompanied that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From that day on he never again saw his sister’s flame, he doesn’t have to ask her why. Although at night he does catch a flare of light in the corner of his eye, never again do they talk of the implication of dual bending or the thought of a kindred spirit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Sokka drifts off to sleep staring at the twinkling fire he thinks of the duality of fire, how it is both life and death, how different water and fire are, two halves of the same coin. How it’s all trapped in his little sister. Just as he is one the verge of a breakthrough does sleep finally check-up to him. Thoughts of balance and ever fading memories of his mother’s face stay in the consciousness as sleep overtakes him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His last thought is a wish to the spirits that he’ll never forget his mother’s smile. But life is not kind.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So my original plan for this was 100% different and more conventional following Katara and Zuko throughout atla but then my traitorous mind took me in a different direction. So I hope y'all liked it and I'm sorry if it feels like it ended abruptly. I do have some ideas of where to take this and the idea of actually writing this in Katara and Zuko's point of view also a possibility if anyone is interested.</p><p>If you tolerated my writing I do have a couple more zk fics in the works so find me on <a href="https://goodnightmoonz.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/goodnightmoonz">twitter</a>(which is new so don't laugh at me).</p><p>Comments give me life and thank you for reading ;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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